by Wolf » Wed Jul 02, 2014 1:59 am
I am assuming that this is your first bird for several reasons, but first let me welcome you to the forum and look forward to sharing in the future. First you only have one of these wonderful little birds, Timmy would be so much better off with a mate, they are very high energy birds and really should be part of a flock and just so you know this is coming from a guy with a single female parrotlet.
You need to take the time to get to know Timmy and to earn his trust before you do anything else. To do this you will need to set aside two to four 15 minute blocks of time each day dedicated to this purpose. You can also use this time to learn what a proper diet for him is and to switch him over to it, assuming that you don't know what you should be feeding him. You will also learn what his favorite food is, because you will be able to use it as a treat for him.
Begin your sessions with Timmy by watching him from the corner of you eye as you approach his cage. As soon as he starts to get nervous and begins to move away from you stop and do not approach any closer to him during this session. Now all you need to do is talk to him in a calm voice, talk to him as if he was already your very best friend. Although it does not matter what you talk about, I find it easier to talk about my hopes and dreams for the relationship with this bird and include words of praise in these talks. At the end of the session say good bye and leave.
I know this sounds trivial, but if you want to have a good trusting relationship with Timmy it is the most important thing that you can do. Believe me that if you follow through with this that you will not have to chase him down again, which is a bad thing to do anyway. It will not take very long before you will find that you will be able to approach all of the way to his cage without disturbing him and when you can you will be able to offer Timmy a treat while you are talking with him. You will offer this treat through the bars of hi cage and if he takes it fine, just continue talking until your session is over and perhaps offer him another treat while you are doing this. If he doesn't take his treat then be sure to leave it for him where he will be able to get it. Soon he will be accepting his treats directly from your hand through the bars, and when he does then it will be time to offer the treats to him through one of the feeding doors directly from your hand. Just keep up the talks and once he will take the treat from your hand then you need to hold the treat so that he will need to get on your hand to get the treat. When you accomplish this about three or four times then continue your talks with the door to the cage open, just don't be surprised if Timmy decides to perch of you for your talks.
I hope that this will help you and if at any point you feel that I have assumed too much then forgive me, but it just makes it quicker to explain things this way. You of course may feel free to correct me if you fell that I am wrong on any point.